Diabetes & The Vaccine Booster Hypo

Tis the season... for colds, flus and Covid. I imagine that many of you have experienced some kind of seasonal illness by now. Certainly, my own household has been through the usual coughs & colds and I imagine there will be more to come in the months that follow. We all know that colds are just going to happen. Flu, too will hit many and Covid shows no signs of going anywhere anytime soon.

Omicron, the latest Covid variant, seems particularly worrisome. I wasn't aware that things had developed beyond Delta. Time flies with Greek alphabet virus mutations, I guess. I don't know if the latest variant is more worrisome because the media have built it up to be so, if governments & scientists are using it to increase the uptake of boosters, if it's social media driven, if it's truly something to be very concerned about or if nobody knows, not yet at least.

I'm sure we'll know more in the coming weeks. Until then, booster jabs appear to be in high demand. Pre-Omi, it was very easy to book a booster jab appointment. I made one for the following day and only three others were in the queue in my local pharmacy. Yesterday, with news of Omicron plastered across all media, a booking was much harder to come by. An online booking system placed one of my household members at 450th in the queue. Last week, there was no online queue. Fear is a driver of many things... perhaps not T1D management. 

So, I've had the jab and 6 days have passed. I feel reassured by the data which indicates a strong protection against Covid illness for the vaccinated. Although, I'm disappointed by my lack of 5G despite upgrading my phone. I had the Pfizer flavour and it felt the same as my first two jabs; not very painful, no bleeding, just a little tight feeling in the outside of the shoulder. Previously, things had escalated at around 12 hours after the jabs. The shaking, sweating, feeling freezing cold, headaches and generally pretty grotty all arrived on the 12 hour mark. I expected the same and so I settled down for a night of paracetamol, drinks and the adding and removing of clothes. Nothing really happened to that extent. What did happen, was the strongest hypo that I've had for a good 4 or 5 years. 

You're a frequent reader of my waffling, so you already know that I don't get much in the way of hypo symptoms. My BG needs to begin with the number 2 before I'm even moderately aware that something isn't quite right. So, it was with great surprise to feel strange at a little over 4mmol/l - according to my CGM. Alright, I'll eat a few sweets to stop that little drop. 10 minutes later...

BUZZ BUZZ!

The screen was red and the number was 3.8. Now, I'm very grateful for the Diabetes technology that I use. It's saved me from very worrying moments and many lost hours of sleep. In this instance, I think it may have saved me from blue lights and a ride in an ambulance. Before the BUZZ BUZZ, I was feeling very sleepy and I was very close to actually falling asleep - in the back of my mind, I attributed that to the booster jab and I wasn't concerned. I'd just eaten some sweets and felt fine after all! Had I fallen asleep then I fear the outcome could've been very bad.

Let's try a finger prick

3.6 mmol/l

Few things, outside of caffeine, will stir me faster than a hypo. The shovelling of Squashies into my mouth began. I will eat three at once when low. I know that's pretty much 10g of carbs and it's easy to keep track of. I noticed, hand delving in to the packet, that I was shaking. What on earth is this!? A shaky hypo, like it's 1996? a very retro symptom.

BUZZ BUZZ DO DO, BE DO BE DO, DO DOOOO

What a cheerful sound; the sound of my CGM alerting me to a severe low. BG - 3.0 mmol/l.

At this stage, I'm swearing and eating. Sweareating? Eatcursing? Munchfuc*ery? Whatever, the Squashies were going in at pace, washed down with a tube of Glucogel.

I was soaked. Every inch of my body was sweating. I felt a combination of shock and delight. I have hypo symptoms! I can't wait to tell everybody! - Oh, yes, let's concentrate on staying alive first. My lips were numb and, as I stood to get more hypo treats from the kitchen, I noticed that my legs weren't really working. Wow! It's like every hypo symptom that I'd missed in the last 4 or 5 years had decided to visit, all at once.

Finger prick - 2.8 mmol/l

Alright, now I need help. I was alone, at home, with my son who was busy doing some gaming thing. I couldn't really walk and felt the safest option would be to call him. He brought a large glass of juice to me while I ate half a chocolate log, shaking and not able to communicate very well.

Another 15 minutes passed during which I found I was reminding myself that my pump was suspended, no insulin was going in, I had approx' 3000g of carbs on my side, it was going to be alright. 

It was, of course and eventually all that glucose lit the blue touch paper. I felt terrible and had the prospect of the booster jab side effects to come. They arrived, in the middle of the night, alongside a gut-rot which had me begging for the merciful release of death. 

6 days on, I've read some tweets by fellow T1Ds who have experienced a lot of lows since their booster jab. Maybe it's a thing? or it could just be a coincidence. To suddenly have such strong hypo symptoms, following much improved BGs (thanks to pumping) seems utterly strange. I hope they stay for a while and it wasn't just a fleeting visit. Horrible as they are, they are a great natural warning that something is wrong.

Do get your vaccine booster if you've yet to have yours. And maybe keep your hypo treats close by, just in case.

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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The Diabetes Technology Revolution

Welcome, Comrades. It's another blog about Diabetes tech because you haven't been inundated with news of it through your socials. Of course you have and it's been fantastic news! If you've missed it, in short, T1Ds in England and Wales are set to be given NHS funding for CGMs and some T2Ds (on insulin) are set to be offered NHS funding for a Flash Glucose Monitor.

The gates aren't being kicked down just yet. The above seems likely to go through in the March of 2022 because the behemoth that is the NHS and NICE aren't exactly agile in directional changes. Cool, fine, okay. 

The news doesn't really impact upon me. I'm one of those lucky social media types who are offered CGMs in return for reviewing and talking about functionality. I'm delighted for my peers, especially those who don't get along with Libre because of accuracy issues, adhesives, etc. I do hope that the CGMs on offer are varied, however. Having used several in the last 4 - 5 years and having spoken to probably thousands of other users, it seems apparent that different systems work better for some than others. I don't know why that might be but I've certainly noticed some monitors aren't within my personal parameters of acceptable accuracy and comfort. Recently, how environmentally friendly these devices are have become more of an issue - I've been talking about that since the summer of 2020 so, that's nice to see and it will be fascinating to watch how the different companies react.

Type 2 Comrades on insulin, how happy are you? I really hope that this news is the start of a more level playing field for you guys and you're offered equal respect and reduced stigma because of this and future developments. 

Are we really now heading into a full on Diabetes tech revolution? I saw Libre as the first step on that ladder when I first began using it, despite it's questionable accuracy, a few years ago. And now we're here - on the verge of total CGM access, no need to be under 18 or pregnant or both. Looping trials are seemingly progressing well. Type 2s are now at the party. Perhaps there'll be a cure in 5 years!? Hahaha. Sorry.  I think we are and we're right in the middle of it. The drivers of change must be thanked for that because even if this is as far as it goes for the next 10 years it will be a huge advancement in care and undoubtedly improvement in the long term outcomes for Diabetics.

Vive la révolution!

Where next? You've read this far without me mentioning NICE pump therapy criteria. But! budgets, tax payers! but there are people who need it more than others! but this, that and the other. I'm done with buts. If I wanted buts I'd be a colorectal doctor. Where there is a problem, there is a solution. If the problem is money then the solution is to obtain more or reduce spending to balance the books. But where from!? - Read the above about "buts". I'm happy to work on that solution for a very reasonable salary. If the problem is the current NICE criteria, and it REALLY is, then revise it. Just today, I've been told of others who have purposefully let their blood glucose run high to obtain pump funding because of the NICE criteria. Let that sink in. I know that I've briefly spoken about this before but now others are openly approaching me to tell me of such occurrences. That's self harm. In the short term, you risk DKA and possibly death. In the long term, you increase your risk of Diabetes related complications. Self harm and risking awful health problems to obtain something which should reduce those horrible things happening in the first place. 

So, today I'm calling for the scrapping and revision of the NICE criteria for NHS pump funding. It is not fit for purpose. Not only is it unfair and far too stringent, it is resulting in real harm in the real world and that is shameful.

 Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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90 Days on an Insulin Pump

The 90s were definitely "my era". At the beginning of that decade, I was a schoolboy. Ten years later, I was engaged to be married. Everything in between was magnificent; the friendships (some of which still exist today), the nights out, the loves, the football, the TV, the Internet became a big thing and the music... Wow! the music. Of course, many reminisce about their teens and early adulthood and remember things through rose-tinted spectacles. Why not? Holding on to good memories can't be a bad thing. So, the 90s were important to me but you didn't come here to read my autobiography. 

90 days on an insulin pump has become incredibly important to me, too. I'm not sure I would swap the entire 1990s for this experience but it's up there with life changing events. 90 days is often the window used to monitor T1D management. Your HbA1c, TIR, hypo events and all the usual MOT bits and pieces get the once over by your HCPs for that period. I have some data because of using a CGM, some of that looks like this:

- Time in range: 82%

- Estimated HbA1c: 6.8%

- Hypo events: 7

 How does that compare to Multiple Daily Injections? I have some data!

- Time in range: 63%

- Estimated HbA1c: 7.5%

- Hypo events: 9

I am delighted by the improvement in the numbers, of course but they are a second, a distant second, to something more important. Something which, once we've accepted that Type 1 Diabetes is here to stay, becomes something we might strive for; a good quality of life.

QoL will differ from person to person because we all lead different lives. For me, it means reasonable levels of sleep, to not feel overwhelmed at the prospect of another injection, to wake up without Dawn Phenomenon ruining my morning, to be able to bolus for meals in comfort in public, to have more confidence in so many ways... to feel, dare I say, a step closer to being a person who does not have Diabetes. A baby step, perhaps given that I look like Robocop. Your move, NICE.

Ah, yes, NICE. Guidelines, criteria, a tax funded system. I know, I get it. Tax payer funded healthcare must have a criteria for various things which could impact upon the purse. So, unless you meet the current insulin pump criteria, you're going to find NHS funding hard to come by. Your health and wellbeing is secondary to the bottom line, sorry. That's the harsh reality of where we are with insulin pump access in England. All the noise and enthusiasm about Looping trials is super but you can forget Looping unless you're on an insulin pump and for that you need to meet the NICE criteria. A1c under 8.5% and on MDI? suddenly all the exciting Looping headlines don't look so... exciting.

"Keep asking"

"Keep making noise"

Oh, I will. Earlier this month, I reached out to my practice nurse and GP in regards to my switch to pumping and the barriers I am facing in getting full NHS support for it's long term use. We did have a nice exchange and I feel very supported by primary care but, of course, there is little they can do to change the decision of secondary care. Secondary care are understanding to a degree but their hands are tied by NICE criteria and a limited budget. Frustrating, eh!? This isn't a Path To Pumping blog, it's a little overview of the last 90 days, so I'm going to stop this particular subject in this paragraph. Needless to say, we are not done.

A few things have cropped up in other discussions, lately. Some questions which I can actually answer!

How does long acting insulin work in the pump?

It doesn't. The pump continually "drips" fast acting insulin. That becomes your basal. You don't notice it happening as you might not if you've ever had a drip in hospital. Your pump is programmed to give you the insulin you need, hour by hour. For a bolus, you ask it for more!

How are you rotating sites with your pump and CGM?

Legs! Although I have plenty of abdomen to work with. The CGM is a "set and forget" thing for 2 weeks, the pump cannula can then be moved around that. The pump works perfectly well on a thigh, by the way.

Are you going to Loop?

Once I have obtained NHS pump funding and Looping is embraced across the board, maybe! I know some are Looping and have more lows than me but similar numbers in other ways. I will, undoubtedly, try it. It seems inevitable and I expect numbers to be the same or better but the more important QoL will be ramped up another notch.

One of my patients mentioned your switch to Fiasp and Pumping in their appointment!

Good! Apparently, I'm an "Influencer" but I don't try to be. 

It seems that my switch to pumping has gained a lot of interest from my peers and various HCPs. As always, what works for one does not necessarily work for all. However, if you think that pump therapy might work for you then please do start the discussion. Noise will change things for the better for us all. The squeakiest hinge gets the most oil.

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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Due Diligence

How is your Diabetes Awareness Month going? Still aware, I know. Hilarious jokes aside, there has been a lot of really good information and experiences shared on social media. Yesterday, World Diabetes Day, saw the awareness posts increase further and I think that's a great thing. If we want others to understand the condition which we try to manage 24/7 then it makes good sense to talk about it openly. 

It makes good sense for the people living with D, the Diabetics, to talk openly. Even if the facts aren't always correct, you'll still read first-hand lived experience. I've been an advocate of talking for several years now because, for me at least, it is a source of therapy, information exchanging and a super way to just vent about my T1D.

As individuals, we don't really need to perform much due diligence ahead of publishing our thoughts. It might be a good idea to hold fire if you're angry or upset or going through a rough time with your mental health but I think on a general day we can simply hit the Tweet, Post, Submit, Send buttons without much of a care.

In the world of health care, for profit or otherwise, I think far more care is needed and I think that there is enough information and help around for any business to avoid the brown hitting the fan. That is especially true if your business is Diabetes focused. Then you really need to be getting the right people to give you the right advice because nobody loves a pile on like social media folk while trying to balance their blood glucose levels. Some of us are happy to highlight the damaging, too. What sort of advocate would I be if I didn't vilify the hurtful and stigmatising of my peers? A pretty bad one, I reckon.

I don't actively hunt for the trash content, I have a life. I will amplify it when I see it. I might have a little sarcastic rant or simply pose an open question. Of course, how a business reacts to that is their "business" and how I give my support to them in the future, if I amplify their campaigns, if I accept any work from them, then depends on that next reaction. I think that's the correct way to behave in most aspects of life. See a mistake, highlight the mistake, wait for correction (or not) then move on in whatever direction is most morally comfortable for you.

The World Health Organisation posted some pretty awful things in relation to Diabetes on World Diabetes Day. Normally, I would include a link or a screenshot here but I think many of you have already read that rubbish or it won't take you very long to find it if you haven't and you're very interested. It's disturbing to think that an organisation of that size cannot hire somebody to perform some fact checking over their Diabetes posts and infographics. A little due diligence for the care of their 10.1 million Twitter followers, especially those who live with Diabetes, shouldn't break the bank. I imagine the right Diabetes advocates would offer their time for free for such a thing. 

That is not the WHO's only "gaff". They were busy stigmatising during their Compact summit in April. 7 months later and more trash from the same organisation. I could talk about some of their Covid-19 posts, next. The list is starting to look pretty long and very, very trashy. 

So, right now, that's me done with the WHO and everything related to them. I'm sure they'll cope without me. It was all a bit downhill after Baba O'Riley anyway.

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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Peer Judgement

I've been a vocal advocate of peer support within Diabetes for a long time. It would be strange, in my position, to not be. The list of support, help and friendships offered to me has been incredible and I'll be forever grateful.

Alongside my peer support gushing, I have been deliberate in my attempts at trying to warn others about the potential pitfalls of engaging with peers within Diabetes circles. The ugly side of peer engagement rarely sticks its head above the parapet fortunately but it is there and as more official avenues of care begin to recognise the positives of peer support, I think it is very important to have a firm safeguarding and vetting procedure in place to at least minimise, if not eliminate, the possibility of damaging engagements between people living with Diabetes.

The Internet is a wild place. Anybody can create accounts and spout all kinds of hate, extreme views or health damaging advice.

"He's clearly not using the technology correctly..."

"Perhaps his grocery bill would be lower if..."

"The truth hurts" - A personal favourite of the peer judges.

Those three came from one person, a person who lives very locally to me and who (at the time) was claiming to be an active volunteer for Diabetes UK. He wasn't a volunteer, of course and it became apparent that he had aired his views about others' Diabetes management across social media resulting in various bans and outrage from other peers.

I think the great thing about Diabetes Twitter is the unquestioning welcoming and support of new people. I hope that remains because we were all newly diagnosed and frightened, once. I hope that remains despite the recent welcoming of an individual who claimed to be a student nurse, recently diagnosed with T1D. Tonnes of love and support from various quarters arrived in his life. At the same time his true colours became apparent. The colours of a racist, ableist, liar. The Twitter community noticed and large numbers were quick to express their displeasure before turning their back on that person.

This week, I passed the two month mark in my pumping journey. It's been great and I felt very encouraged by the real life changes as well as the improved numbers. I tweeted my numbers for a comparison to my life as a Diabetic on MDI. Much positivity followed until this reply:

"So clearly not worth having such an unsightly pump?! What gets to me is how damn ugly & unsexy all related to diabetes is!"

I did reply, later on but when I read that response I was angry. I was angry for others more than myself because I'm a man in my mid 40s and, after living a life with disability, I am almost numb to hurtful comments. I was angry for the newly diagnosed, the children, the impressionable, the low on confidence... I can't imagine how the teenager felt, after starting pump therapy recently, once they had read that response. How would you have felt? So, I didn't reply immediately. I retweeted the comment and invited others to share their views. It's a few days later, now and their tweet is still attracting replies. I think that underlines the strength of feeling and the general dismay.

What does pop up occasionally, if I've highlighted something which is horribly offensive, discrimination or possibly damaging to the health of others is the old "They're allowed an opinion" response. Sometimes dressed as freedom of speech and sometimes with a heavy hint of accusation with a #ThoughtPolice hashtag. Here's the deal; If a person responds to something you've done or said with words that express offense, that they feel discriminated against, that they're worried your words or actions could be damaging, then it's probably not for fun. It takes bravery for a person to call out these things. Then it's down to you to take a breath and consider if they have a point, was it a misunderstanding you can clear up or do you need to re-evaluate things? Perhaps even apologise!? I think everybody should be free to express themselves if that expression is not going to cause distress or damage to another person or persons. That would seem to be a reasonable, kind way to live and engage with others.

Words which struck a chord with me came from Dan Newman (@T1D_Dan) when the subject of harassment came up during an online conference. Dan said that if you read something which you don't like then simply block that account. He's right. You're not obliged to respond to anybody and your only duty on social media is to that of your own well being. You may be questioned, I certainly have been, about why you've blocked X, Y or Z. You don't owe any explanations to anybody. Do all your social media in a way which is comfortable for you and not others.

It seems that peer support could be a part of your Diabetes care through the NHS in the future. To the decision makers, the leaders, I encourage you to tread carefully by vetting each person you enlist, reading their social media and asking others for thoughts. If you offer somebody a job then you ask for references, don't you? and to everybody else online or otherwise; Stranger danger. 

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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The Path To Pumping - Pt.6 Somebody Like Me

You may have heard from De La Soul that 3 is the magic number. Not in Type 1 Diabetes circles if you're hoping for NHS support for pump therapy.

A lot has happened since the last The Path To Pumping blog. I think it's important to recognise the great things first and, as usual, the great comes from the community of GBDoc, NIDoc and IREDoc on Twitter. I've reached the stage of forgetting who has sent what, helped in which way or just been there to support my words. It is truly remarkable to me, to have such generosity sent to my door or handed to me in person. I try to be gracious to each person and convey my profound thanks for their help and each person has simply seen their actions as nothing, not a problem, some citing that I do a lot to help others when I really just do what I think is the right thing - and I really enjoy it! I've written many tweets and blogs containing "Thank yous" now and I'm running short of words. Thank you! to everyone who has helped me to this point. I have enough pump consumables to keep me going until December, perhaps longer if I reuse some cartridges.

Peers, as you may have realised, are happy to support what I'm doing. They live the condition 24/7 and they relate and feel my words. They recognise the importance of reduced burden, better sleep, no dawn phenomenon, lower anxiety, more head space... and on the list of things goes. What's not on that list? Numbers.

Trigger warning: Self harm

Ah, yes. The magic numbers on which we as Type 1 Diabetics are judged. Still, albeit with less of a judgemental tone (we can put that to the test in due course). Because page 1 of the "Type 1 Diabetes for Doctors" book is all about HbA1c.

For Abbott, the Flash Mob, the Libre Lovers, during a Webinar the very well qualified have noted that an A1c of 6.5% is optimal regardless of MDI or pump therapy.

The nice folk at NICE believe that an A1c of 8.5% or higher should mean a mandatory offering of pump therapy through the NHS.

Boffins at a Swedish university believe the "Goldilocks zone" for A1c is 6.5 - 6.9% regardless of MDI or pump therapy.

Then there are us; the 7% - 8.4% gang. The cool kids, perhaps? walking the tightrope over a drop into the chasm of complications, hoping to stay on the line and not drop into the abyss. And we're told "you're doing great" if we ask about switching to a pump (remember positive rejection?)  and to "keep at it". Yet, there they are - The Abbott Webinar professor, the Swedish boffins, talking about A1cs beginning with 6 and the mind wonders just how great are we doing in the mid 7s? What help can we get? You're not switching to pump therapy, not in my area, that's for sure! You'll be working with the tools that MDI can give to you, assuming you have any capacity left to do that work. Or, fingers crossed! and you carry on as usual with the "doing great".

Complication risks grow exponentially over 8% HbA1c, with each increase in 1% HbA1c. I'm sorry if you're nursing an 8%+ right now. You're not guaranteed anything! So, keeping things under 8% is a great idea, right?

Right! Deep breath. So:

- We need to keep it under 8% to reduce those complication risks

- Under 7% but not under 6.5% if you subscribe to the Swedish data.

- 6.5% if you're digging Libre Webinars

There seems to be murky water, here. For such a heavy clinical reliance on HbA1c, the 7% - 8.4% folk don't seem to be brought into the conversation a great deal. Is the risk of complications so dramatically lower at 8.4% vs 8.5% (NICE for pumping) or 7.9% vs 8%? My own blood glucose data tells me that things rarely travel in a straight line. I'm sure there is a nice, curvy, A1c vs Complications graph, somewhere.

It's difficult to escape the numbers if you're hoping to start pumping through the NHS. I get that. I really do get that individuals who are struggling to get their A1c under 8.5% need more urgent care than somebody like me, who floats around the 6% and 7% areas.

Somebody like me. Somebody who used to have higher A1c numbers, somebody who has suffered eye complications, somebody who has engaged and got to grip with his Diabetes, somebody who (in recent times) has noticed his A1c creeping up, his TIR dropping, his burden increasing, his near-avoidance of injecting because he's just so damn tired of the endless process seven, eight, nine, ten times a day. Somebody who knows his own body and own mind and recognises the dangers of where things are heading.

Somebody like me, who isn't in need of urgent care but is in need of care because somebody like me really doesn't want to go through eye complications hell again. A hell which I've only partly spoken about because my peers have enough to worry about. I promise, you don't need all those details. 

Could the risk be worth it? I have enough tools and data to stop pumping, today and begin what would in effect be self harming myself by purposefully running high enough to achieve an A1c of 8.5%. Then I'll get the care that I know that I need. That care is NHS supported pump therapy. Of course, there is another criteria for pump therapy from NICE; hypos. The same thing could be achieved by having a couple of severe hypos, perhaps resulting in hospitalisation. The risks of trying a controlled hypo are far more immediate but probably equally as silly as trying to run high for 90 days. Don't do it. 

Where next? There are options, none of which involve manipulating my Diabetes in the two very silly ways above. I could press harder and talk to people in more senior roles but is that the Joe Bloggs Diabetic route? Probably not. Joe would likely seek the advocacy of charities. How much weight their influence carries is debatable but without trying who knows? Another option could be to seek care from a different area. I live close to the border of different counties and different CCGs. Perhaps an area many miles away would be more sympathetic to my needs. I'm chewing over those options as I type this blog. There is no immediate hurry to decide what to do but, as always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Leave them below or tweet me!

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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Diabetes & Pain

Apologies for the rather dramatic image. Imagery which represents pain is not an easy thing to find unless a scrunched up face is your go-to. It has been a pain to find a suitable photo. Not as much of a pain as Diabetes. 

If you read or publish your own stuff on the Internet, perhaps via social media, then you've probably engaged with somebody who has had an "ouch" moment. You've probably experienced several, yourself. That's life, right? We experience pain because our brain is telling us something is wrong and to warn us that we're possibly damaging ourselves. We avoid pain because it's unpleasant. Yet with Diabetes, specifically Type 1 in my case, pain appears to be an acceptable part of the day to day management of the condition, at least in it's physical sense.

I've been thinking about some of the pain which I've experienced from near 37 years of T1D.

Those first few days were brutal, as an 8 year old boy. The guillotine-style finger pricker might seem like a horrendous looking thing to use, these days but when compared to a manual prick from a ward nurse it was very welcomed! The finger pricks became the first thing that I became conditioned to. They still hurt of course and they still hurt today! But something doesn't really register as a pain, eventually. Perhaps the brain knows what's coming and it's all; 'Okay cool, another finger prick, have a drop of blood.' I think finger pricks, today are relatively low on the pain threshold. Pricking devices have advanced, we can pre-determine the depth of the prick (stop laughing) and lancets seem very good compared to those of the mid 1980s - assuming you change them. You do change them, right? 

In the early years, needle tech and information wasn't great. I remember those syringe needles being pretty big and getting used several times. Little wonder that my injection sites were frequently bruised. I remember it took 3 or 4 days before I no longer needed a team of HCPs to hold me down for my twice daily jabs. Now, of course, injection technique is a thing. Needle length is a thing and single use is definitely a thing. Injections still hurt but far less than the early days. I think the advancements in injection tech and knowledge have reduced the pain in that area. 

Recently, I've started pumping (you may have noticed) and that means a different type of pain; cannula insertion. I prefer using an insertion device, some prefer manual insertion. Either way, you're going to insert a needle and cannula into you and withdraw the needle while leaving the cannula behind so you can pump insulin in. I've only ever done this to myself, no HCP has helped or advised, although for the first two insertions I had the help and patience of a friend on Zoom. I found manual insertion to be more painful than using an insertion device. That might be because I'm slow and deliberate rather than fast and zappy. It's generally the same pain level as a syringe or insulin pen needle injection but I have found the after sting lasts for a little longer. In addition, boluses can sometimes feel "a bit stingy" although I've found that to be site dependent. 

Ah, technology. A wonderful thing. It still hurts. I'm currently using GlucoMen Day CGM and that is the least painful CGM that I've used to date. No guide needle helps to minimise the skin trauma. When it's in, it's in. It probably hurts more to remove the sensor because the adhesive keeps it so firmly attached.

Libre? Possibly the more painful of the glucose devices, for me. Although, again, that is somewhat site dependent. I have found the upper thighs hurt the least and that is the same for every Diabetes tech device which I've inserted there. Have you got a favourite site?

Adhesive? My advice is to choose a not-very-hairy site on your body. Some of that stuff will give you a tiny area of your body a free waxing as a part of the deal when you remove the device. Ouch.

T1D means that the possibly of Diabetes related complications can be a thing in our lives. I'm going to talk about the one which has impacted upon me. I recognise that there are many others and you'll all have your own experiences if complications have visited you. 

Diabetic Retinopathy wasn't a very painful experience. Changes in the eyes and even bleeds don't tend to be painful. The treatment and additional complications have been. Laser treatment in clinic was uncomfortable with moments of moderate, stinging, pain but if I had to go through that again it wouldn't unduly worry me in regards to how much it's going to hurt. Deep laser, done in theatre, was more uncomfortable. That involved an injection to numb the eye and a period of  soreness for several days. I hope that you'll never experience those things but if you do then please just do it. It's really not awful and your eyesight is worth it and more.

Speaking of more. A vitrectomy?... or two. That's a more invasive procedure and you'll need a GA rather than a local because you really don't want to be awake for that. Post-surgery resulted in a headache and eye pain which grew in intensity. Eventually, drops and Tramadol calmed things down enough for me to stop praying for the merciful release of death. What followed was 2 weeks of soreness and posturing. Posturing is not fun. It involves being face down for 50 minutes of every hour. EVERY hour. to protect the retina. So, 4 weeks of my life, I spent looking at the floor, pillow, sofa, etc and that is no party for your back and neck. And that's how Diabetic Retinopathy gave me a bad back. 

There is more and I've saved the best/worst until last. Ocular Hypertension. The gift of retinopathy kept giving some 3 years after my last surgery. It started with a very mild, niggly, headache. I took a couple of Ibuprofen and tried to carry on with my day. Within a few hours I was unable to look at a screen and beginning to worry. By the early evening I was already in bed and despite trying different painkillers, nothing was working. At that stage, I began to vomit from the pain and the debate of when or if to go to hospital was had. There is an emergency eye dept right besides my usual eye clinic. They opened at 8am and I decided that it would be better to present there, rather than general A&E and potentially being admitted. I was sure this was an eye related issue and nothing more sinister and that spending the night on my hands and knees, because that was the most comfortable position, and crying quietly was best done in privacy in my own home.

Eye pressure is "scored" just like your blood glucose. A normal range is something in the teens. My right eye was 14. My left eye, my agonising eye, was 48. I was lucky to present at Eye Casualty at this time as one of the nicest, most experienced eye surgeons was in the building. I will never forget the compassion and clear explanation given to me by Mr Kowatowski. Within 30 minutes I was on IV drugs which began to lower the pressure in my eye. The relief was tremendous and from that and probably not having any sleep for 24 hours, not to mention the worry about my sight, I had another little weep. 

My words probably do not carry enough weight for the pain which I felt from the high pressure in my eye. It is by far, without a shadow of a doubt, the single most painful thing I've ever experienced. I've had a broken rib, twisted ankles and a biopsy on my tongue. None of those are in the same league as Ocular Hypertension. So, when you see me encouraging my peers to attend their eye screening appointments, it is for good reason.

Pain relief is something which affects us, as people with T1D, too. Tramadol is a strong pain killer but it has been noted to cause hypos! Co-codamol, which you might be prescribed for a frozen shoulder (I was) is a strong one, too and although it never caused me any blood glucose issues, it was really difficult to wake up of a morning. Naproxen gets commonly prescribed but that can cause stomach issues. And then, of course, Paracetamol and Ibuprofen - they might work for mild pain and don't appear to have any immediate effects on my Diabetes.

Physical pain as a result of Type 1 Diabetes appears to be inevitable, from the very common, mildest and briefest of stings right up to the insanity inducing agony - which I truly hope is a rarity.

Mental pain is another issue, a very important issue, which has only recently begun to be recognised amongst HCPs in Diabetes. I'll blog about that on another day. Until then, tell me about your physical Diabetes pain. Leave a comment below or catch me on Twitter.

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